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Wednesday, June 5. 2013

A piece in the Wichita Eagle today --
Dan Voorhis: Businesses will benefit from several recent laws enacted
in Kansas -- points out that the Kansas state legislature hasn't
only been up to complete lunacy this session. Sure, they've passed
new anti-abortion and pro-gun laws that are blatantly unconstitutional,
and they've cut income taxes -- exempting "small businessmen" like
the Koch brothers altogether -- while raising sales taxes. But they've
also been minding business:

Also, in bill after bill, the Legislature strengthened the hand of
employers, especially in their dealings with employees.

SB149 mandates drug screening of Unemployment Insurance claimants
as well as those receiving other cash assistance from the state. A
first screening failure results in treatment; a second failure means a
loss of benefits.

SB187 expands the nominating board for Workers Compensation
appeals judges. Previously, board nominations were split between the
Kansas Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO. Now the board will be
expanded to more groups, including more employer-related groups. It
increased judges' pay in an attempt to attract higher-quality
candidates. It also shortens the time to file a claim from 30 to 20
days for an employee or from 20 to 10 days for someone who has left
employment.

HB2069 banned the ability of local governments to mandate that
workers be paid prevailing wage rates on construction projects using
public dollars. The Unified Government of Kansas City/Wyandotte County
was the only local government to have such a mandate.

HB2022 banned public sector unions from automatically deducting
member dues for political activities. It also gives employers a
stronger ability to withhold pay, such as to replace uniforms or repay
loans.

HB2105 strengthened employers' legal grounds for denying a worker
unemployment insurance. It also re-wrote the formula for employers'
contributions to the unemployment insurance pool to increase the
amounts paid by employers who have more layoffs.

Voorhis didn't mention the biggest giveaway, which was a bill
that ended regulation of the phone monopoly, AT&T, but then
he wasn't really reporting -- he was just echoing what the Wichita
Metro Chamber of Commerce lobbyist was bragging about.

Reminds me why I left Kansas in the first place. It was 1974 and
I was working in a type shop downtown. I had gotten a series of small
raises early on as the owner noticed how much work I was producing,
but he developed eye problems, leaving his idiot son in charge of the
company, who did nothing. After a long stretch, I went to him and
asked for a raise. He told me that my salary was already the maximum
the market could bear in Wichita. He did feign sympathy, however,
suggesting that if I really did need to make more money, I should
move to a higher wage market, like . . . Tulsa, Oklahoma! I quit
shortly after that -- at which point they did offer me a much more
substantial raise than I had asked for -- and moved to New York
City.

Twenty-five years later I moved back to Wichita, bringing a
telecommuting job with me. When that ran out, I looked around a
bit, encountering the same lame-brained mentality from business
owners I had originally fled. One job prospect offered $12/hour
to design and build database-driven websites for a client based
in China -- yes, outsourcing their IT work to Kansas.

The one thing that Kansas doesn't need is more leverage for
business owners to drive wages down. It depresses the economy,
and is depressing for everyone involved, leaving everyone in a
state of mental disability.

The biggest political difference between the New Deal and now
is the amount of effort Roosevelt put into fighting deflation:
both in keeping prices from collapsing and in increasing wages,
even going so far as to promote unions. Obama has done none of
that, letting wages sink while monopoly rents skyrocket. And if
Obama and the Democrats won't fight for you, numbskulls like the
Chamber of Commerce get a free ride.